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The EU is seeking to enhance autonomy and diversify supply chain risks in the field of critical raw materials by selecting strategic projects, accelerating approvals, and facilitating financing. However, slow project progress and funding gaps remain major challenges, and whether the EU can achieve its 2030 goals depends on whether these projects can secure sufficient public and private investment.
The European Commission said on Friday that it has selected 46 strategic raw material projects, which will receive faster approval speeds and assistance in applying for public and private funding. Projects selected last year have progressed slowly, with some facing difficulties in advancing. The European Commission said it has mobilized more than 2 billion euros ($2.24 billion) in public funding, but developers warned in August that more projects could fail without emergency funding support.
The European Commission hopes that prioritizing these projects will help the EU achieve the goals set by its 2024 Critical Raw Materials Act. Under the act, the EU aims for 10% of annual demand to come from extraction, 40% from processing, and 25% from recycling by 2030.
These projects are distributed across 16 EU countries and cover 15 of the 17 strategic raw materials on the EU list, including copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, graphite, rare earths, magnesium, and tungsten. The European Commission said: “These 46 new projects are expected to require about 21.1 billion euros ($23.7 billion) in capital investment, with funds to be raised jointly from public and private sources.”
Strategic projects do not automatically receive EU funding. The European Commission said its role is to “facilitate” access to EU funding and help project developers connect with lenders. The latest batch of projects was determined after the 60 projects announced last year, including 13 projects in countries outside the EU such as Brazil, Greenland, and Kazakhstan.
The projects selected this time cover a variety of critical raw materials such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, graphite, rare earths, magnesium, and tungsten, and are distributed across 16 EU countries. These materials are crucial to industries such as defense, aerospace, automotive, and renewable energy. The EU hopes to promote the implementation of these projects as soon as possible by accelerating approvals and facilitating financing, so as to reduce dependence on external supply.
The European Commission estimates that these 46 projects require about 21.1 billion euros in capital investment. Although more than 2 billion euros in public funding has been mobilized, developers warn that some projects may be difficult to advance without emergency funding support. Although strategic projects do not automatically receive EU funding, the European Commission will assist them in obtaining funding and help them connect with lenders.
